Warren Racks Up 79 Points In Drubbing Of Kits

Jaxson Davis never got tired of dunking.

Warren never got tired of scoring.

The state’s No. 4 ranked basketball team administered a beatdown in the second half at Beardsley Gymnasium Saturday afternoon, drubbing Evanston 79-60 and looking like a team that’s prepared for another run at the Final Four again this season after finishing second in the Class 4A state tournament a year ago.

Davis, a junior guard who might be the best player in the state of Illinois, poured in a game-high 32 points and scored five dunks to humble a Wildkit team that needed some point production from their bench to avoid a running clock slaughter rule loss in front of their home crowd in the fourth quarter.

Down by just seven points at halftime, Evanston fell to 22-5 on the season after surrendering a season high total of points. Warren (23-2) blew the game open with a 24-11 surge in the third period and matched the season high 79 points that Bolingbrook racked up the previous Saturday against ETHS at home.

Maybe what the Wildkits need is to go back out on the road. They’ll finish out the regular season with games at Niles West (Tuesday) and New Trier (Friday) before a rematch with Niles North in the Central Suburban League first place crossover game February 18th in Skokie.

Or maybe what they need is a better effort.

“They played harder than we did, and they wanted to win more than we did,” said Evanston head coach Mike Ellis. “For some reason today, we didn’t want to expend the energy to be able to beat a team like that.

“We made seven 3s and gave up 18 offensive rebounds. That’s what happens when you focus on making shots, instead of on making plays. They got second chances, they got second chances, they got third chances. When you dominate the boards the way they did, that’s the perfect example of winning with toughness.

“Our guys --- for whatever reason --- didn’t play as well as they could. We had to bring the bench in to avoid that running clock. The days are running out (in the season) and we’ve got holes we have to improve on as a team. Hopefully, we’ll learn a lesson from this game and we’ll be more committed to working on those weaknesses.”

The frustrated head coach yanked his regulars at the end of the third period when the Blue Devils pushed the lead to 62-42 by scoring seven points in the final minute. Only a pair of 3-point baskets by ETHS senior guard Miles Ross and a couple of buckets by freshman Leo McKenzie kept the visitors from turning the rout into a 30-point margin that would have kept the clock running.

Evanston never led in the contest. Warren’s man-to-man defense made things tough for Evanston’s 3-point shooters and the result was a 7-for-27 (26 percent) showing for a team that usually thrives from long range.

Warren outscored the hosts 21-15 in the first quarter and settled for a 38-31 cushion at halftime.

About the only plus for the Wildkits was the return to action by 6-foot-6 junior forward Vito Rocca, who missed the last five games with a groin injury suffered January 17th in a shootout win at Homewood-Flossmoor.

Rocca played approximately 12 minutes and finished with a basket and six free throws for the Kits. Dion Lane’s 10 points and 9 from Timi Ogunsanya were the best the losers could muster on offense.

For Warren, Davis connected on 12-of-18 field goal attempts and got help from Braylon Walker with 13 points and 7 rebounds.

“Vito is our best defender, our best rebounder, and our toughest player,” Ellis said. “Today we didn’t have enough of that to go around. He was in early this morning --- he’s always the first one here --- and he said he felt fine. We left it up to him and his family as far as whether or not he would play.

“He’s a big piece for us, but the strength of this team has been the way they play together out on the floor. We didn’t operate with that mindset today.”